The Execution
by danomesser
Summary: Regina sneaks away from the group in the Enchanted Forest and Snow tracks her.


The Execution

Pain.

That was all she felt. It was pretty much all she had felt her entire life.

She had always been good at sneaking around and slipping away unnoticed. But being the Evil Queen made this task quite a challenge.

The first to notice her absence was that loud-mouthed dwarf, Grumpy. He interrupted Snow and her Prince to relay the message, just as they were talking about returning the castle with Regina by their side.

While Snow was on the run from the Evil Queen, she met a wolf-girl named Red, who specialised in tracking. She taught Snow to help her survive while she was on the run.

While Charming led the rest of the residents of Storybrooke to the castle, Snow tracked Regina. It didn't take long for Snow to catch up with Regina. And startle her.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice. A voice that made Regina jump slightly.

"So, now you're following me?" she snapped still with her back to Snow.

"We were worried and it looks like we were right to be what are you burying?" Now Snow sounded more scared than concerned. She stepped closer to get a better look. "Is that a heart? It's yours, isn't it?"

Regina huffed "Go away."

"Regina you can't do this, you can't just bury your heart in the woods."

"Watch me" she replied.

"Henry wouldn't want this for you."

"He's gone, Snow. I saw it in the vision, I'll never see him again. It was the only way to stop Pan's curse."

"He would want us all to move forward and so would Emma."

"Look Snow, I'm sorry, about Emma. But I couldn't leave Henry on his own and even though Emma was reluctant to leave you, she wouldn't have left Henry on his own either. It's all my fault." Regina sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Snow exclaimed.

"The curse. Everything. If I hadn't cast the curse in the first place. None of this would've happened. Emma would be here and Henry…"

"Wouldn't have been born. Emma and Neal would probably never have met."

"Are you serious, if we could change everything that happened, you wouldn't?" Regina was shocked.

"My daughter may not remember me, but she's happy with her son and that's all I would ever want for my daughter."

"I'm sorry about Emma." Regina said sincerely.

"I know, Emma wouldn't have left Henry, I know that. She understands what had to be done." Snow saw the pain on Regina's face and changed the subject. "According to Aurora and Phillip, there's a witch around these parts."

"Great." She said.

"What?" Snow asked.

"Snow, do you know why I'm alive?" she seriously asked.

"You took down both curses?" she guessed.

"No. Emma is in the land without magic. Rumple is dead. My mother's dead and even if she was alive she wouldn't help us. I am the only sorcerer left. In order to survive, they need my magic. Snow, it's no secret that a lot of people here want my head."

"They don't." she argued.

"Are you serious, Snow?" she yelled. "They don't care how many times I've saved them." She picked up her heart and dusted it off.

Like I said to Tink in Neverland "This represents the choice I made that day. Small heart, dark heart."

"Wait, what choice?"

"You may as well know. You would find out eventually. I met Tinkerbell about a couple of months after being married to your father. I was angry with Rumple and I took that anger out on the bar on the balcony and it broke."

"Oh my god, Regina what happened." Snow seemed concerned.

"I fell and when I was inches from the ground I was surrounded by fairy dust. Tink just said she was giving me a second chance. She told me the only way to save me was to help me find love again. She came back to the castle later that night with pixie dust and it lead us to a tavern. In that tavern was a man with a lion tattoo. Tink left and I opened the door and then went home."

"Why didn't you go in?" she asked, pleading for an answer.

"Again, like I told Tink. Tink told me that I could let go of the anger that was holding me back and suddenly I thought what would I be without it? I think you know what she said."

She nodded. "Happy"

"That's what she said, I would've been weak and also I didn't believe that I could love after Daniel."

"The weakest I've ever been was my execution. Why did you stop it?" she asked, when she received no response she repeated herself. "Why did you stop it?" she shouted.

"Because I knew that you could go back to being the woman that I first met." Snow shouted back at her.

While their screaming match was going on, there was a group of archers nearby.

"You saved me that day we first met. I knew you could be that person again." She said calmer.

"No, Snow. Like I said that girl was lost a long time ago."

"I refuse to believe that. I can almost see her again. The evil queen wouldn't have saved the entire population of Storybrooke."

"I can never be as happy, as that girl was because now I've lost everyone. Even my mother's dead."

"I'm sorry about your mother." Snow said with her head down.

"If it wasn't you, it eventually would've been someone else or me. You saved Rumple, gave him a chance and now even the dark one is dead."

"Regina, do you still have magic?" Snow asked, changing the subject.

"Let's see, shall we?" Regina made a fireball and as soon as she made it, she immediately extinguished it and caught an arrow aimed directly at her head. "Great, archers." Regina sighed.

"Sorry, milady. We've been tracking a menace with wings." A handsome man on a horse spoke. He had chiselled features and seemed nice enough, but Regina knew better than to trust strangers in the forest.

"Do I look like a winged beast to you? Actually don't answer that, I can guess the answer."

"You can get back to your search." She scowled at the archers. "Snow, go back to your band of misfits, go to the castle, I don't care. I'm leaving." She turned to leave, but was blocked by Snow.

"Regina don't do this. There's a witch and winged beasts about, it's not safe to travel alone."

"I've survived this long on my own. Why do I need you all now, only to be stabbed in the back when the only danger is me? Why do you even care?"

Before Snow could answer, she saw something suspicious lurking in the bushes. "There's something in the bushes." Regina raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in conversation, but sighed and checked anyway.

"There's nothing here, unless it flew away."

"It did!" she said loudly.

Regina made a fire ball and threw it the unknown creature, but it dodged it. It was too fast for the disoriented queen and the band of archers. The animal swooped down and dug its claws into Regina's arm. It was like it wanted to fly away with her. The archers continued to shoot at it, until the band's leader hit the creature. Another arrow, at the same time, sunk into the side of Regina's shoulder. The creature lost its grip on the queen and she was dropped in a heap on the ground.

She groaned in pain, mainly because of the arrow in the side of her shoulder. She reached for the arrow and plucked it out like a splinter. She winced in pain, and magically healed the wound.

"What about your arm, milady? You're injured." He asked.

"It's your majesty and I'm fine. If I heal it, I risk passing out. I've just taken down two curses, one which was 28 years old. It doesn't go without a price." He got off his horse to help Regina up, but she stood up herself and Snow grabbed the stranger's hand.

"Well, I'm grateful for the assistance. I'm Snow White and this is Regina." She introduced. Regina rolled her eyes.

"Robin, Robin of Locksley and these are my merry men."

"If you're Snow White then what are you doing with her?" one of Robin's men rudely interrupted.

"Her? Show some respect or at less some restraint at the buffet." Regina retorted as usual.

"You'll have to excuse Little John." Robin answered. She just wanted the conversation to end and to leave.

"Let's re-join the others." She said.

"I thought you wanted to leave." Snow said softly.

"Well, now I can't. I need magic to go home and now travelling alone is too dangerous without it."

"I thought we were all going to the castle together."

"Let's go. Your prince will be worried." She mocked and rolled her eyes.

"Robin, care to join us." Regina rolled her eyes again.

"Great, more people who want to kill me, the more the merrier." She mumbled, but Snow just nudged her. She started up a conversation. "When I said I wanted to go home, you know I didn't mean the castle, don't you?" she asked.

"Where else would you go?"

"The castle was never my home. It was a prison. I spent most of my marriage trying to leave and now I'm going back with the one person I wanted dead more than anyone. I had another home, before the castle and now both of my parents are dead, technically it's mine."

They soon found their group and Regina and Snow were walking side by side. Regina was watch the thief. "So what do you think of our new friend? Can we trust him? He is a thief." she asked sarcastically.

Snow smiled. "Think of it from his perspective, how do you think he looks at you."

She nodded in understanding. "Point taken." Snow chuckled.

"He is kind of cute, huh?"

"He smells like forest." She stated.

He wasn't a bad looking man, but that didn't change the fact that he was smug and she didn't trust him. But impressions of people can change.


End file.
